


Next Time

by Sparksrise



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Pining, Volume 8 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:47:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28840365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparksrise/pseuds/Sparksrise
Summary: She had almost told her so many times. Yang always found a new reason to put it off, the world didn’t hold back from providing more either.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Bumbleby - Relationship
Comments: 8
Kudos: 70





	Next Time

Almost.

She had almost told her so many times. Yang always found a new reason to put it off, the world didn’t hold back from providing more either.

She’d almost said it when Blake took her hand and promised to stay, after she had finally admitted out loud that she wasn’t okay. Not really. Not yet.

Most recently was when they had managed to ditch team FNKI so they could get five minutes of peace outside. They were talking too loud after being right by the speakers for so long and they had laughed until they nearly cried. She didn’t want to risk ruining that moment. The newest excuse.

It had been the first time since arriving in Atlas, since Beacon, that they could just be teenagers again.

She’d been a moment away from saying it for weeks now, months...if she really thought about it, she’d wanted to tell her since the dance at Beacon. Blake had walked into that hall, smiling, _really smiling_ , for the first time in days and she had a dance saved just for her.

She was getting lost in thoughts more frequently, but the excuses came twice as often. They were always there, ready and waiting in every quiet moment, every dark corner, clinging to every doubt and insecurity.

There was plenty of quiet now.

It might have been the fact that they were away from each other for the first time in a while, or just _how_ they left things. Maybe it was just the state of the world. Either way, it had all of the almosts playing out in her head on repeat. She wished fixing the bike had taken longer, at least it offered some sort of distraction. Instead, she got caught up in the other timelines. Could they have been together sooner? At Beacon? Would things have played out any differently, or just hurt even more?

Jaune rolled over in his sleep, armour clanking. It was enough to jolt Yang out of her swirling thoughts. Away from the questions that there was no way to answer.

She stood as quietly as she could and walked to the balcony, doing her best to not wake anyone else.

Not for the first time, she found herself promising _next time_ , the next chance she got she’d tell her. Surely it had to be better than this. They’d lost so much, maybe they could have this one good thing. She blamed her exhaustion and the mess of a situation they were in as her mind began to wander again. 

After they got back to Mantle, after the others got back from their mission, after they get out of Atlas, after, after, after. They’d have time, she’d make sure that they’d have time to talk. She felt like she needed to explain her reasons for not going with them, even though she knew that Blake at least had an idea of them already. She couldn’t help but worry that she’d disappointed her, at least a little. She went back to the window and watched the relentless snowfall.

In her mind they were back at the Happy Huntresses’ hideout. They had all made it back and were taking turns resting, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. 

Yang was pretending to sleep on an uneven cot at the back of the room, tucked out of the way.

“You’re not fooling anyone you know, we’ve all seen your attempts at pretending to still be asleep when Weiss woke us up for classes.”

Blake’s voice startled her, but she tried to not let it show. Her eyes were still closed but Yang couldn’t help the smile tugging at her mouth.

“Shhhh, a professional huntress is trying to sleep here.” 

“Oops, where?”

Yang opened one eye slightly, just in time to see Blake’s exaggerated fake concern as she looked around the room.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Yang said as she tossed the jacket she had been using as a pillow at her partner’s head.

Blake caught it easily and threw it back.

“So were you sent to get some rest to or just to police _my_ rest,” Yang asked, pushing herself into a sitting position.

“Neither actually. I just…I wanted to check on you. I had a feeling you wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

Blake was watching her closely as she swung her legs over the side of the cot. Yang couldn’t tell if she was debating what to say or looking for cracks that were bound to be showing by now. Blake just sighed and pulled up a chair to sit across from her.

“Okay, I’m going to ask a stupid question,” Blake said eventually.

“Okay, I’ll try not to give a stupid answer.” Yang’s smirk quickly faded as Blake made a point of looking her in the eye. She looked serious and so…tired.

“How are you doing?”

Yang blinked for a moment, two.

“I...uh…I’m fine.”

Blake just folded her arms and kept her eyes on Yang, clearly unhappy with her answer.

Yang looked away, awkwardly rubbing at the back of her neck. She had missed feeling like they knew each other better than anyone, but damn was it inconvenient right now. She wasn’t okay. How could she be? No one was. They didn’t have time for that though. They didn’t have time to fall apart.

“I’m as okay as I can be.”

Blake nodded. Seemingly deciding that answer was at least more honest than the first.

“It feels like we’re all just barely keeping it together.” Blake admitted, her ears pressing to her head.

“Never would have thought that we’d end up here, when I signed up for Beacon. The fate of the world on our shoulders, magic and maidens.”

“Yeah, there were a lot of surprises waiting for us at Beacon. Not all of them were bad though.” Blake said, meeting Yang’s eyes and holding her gaze for a long moment.

“No, not all of them,” Yang agreed, managing to smile for the first time in what already felt like weeks. “I think if someone had told me after we met that first night, that we would…that you- uh.”

Blake smirked at her, raising an eyebrow inquisitively but making no attempt at helping Yang figure out he unfinished thoughts. She could feel heat building in her cheeks and kept her eyes locked on her hands.

“If someone had told me then, how much you would come to mean to me. I don’t know if I would have believed them. I have always been one to go with the flow, follow wherever adventure takes me. I never thought that meeting someone, getting to know them as well as you know yourself, could have that same…rush.” Yang finally dragged her eyes away from her hands and back to Blake. She couldn’t read her reaction. She never could when she practiced these speeches in her head. She still didn’t know what kind of reaction scared her most.

Just as Blake opened her mouth to reply, smiling, slight blush colouring her cheeks, the scene faded. Yang was dragged back into reality. The excitement at finally having a signal was drowned out momentarily as she sighed and shook her head a little, forcing her thoughts back to the present. They still had a job to do.

**Several Months Later**

It was finally here, the last day. One way or another Remnant would be changed for ever by the time the sun set. They had worked out their plan and gathered every friend they could. Now they were here with one last play left to make.

Yang stood alone, watching the sun slowly creep over the mountains in the distance. It was in the quiet moments like this that the weight of it all truly hit her. The fate of the world, resting on the shoulders of a small group of her friends and family for so long. One way or another they’d be putting that weight down today, she had no idea what that would even look like.

“I think I can actually hear the gears turning in your head.”

Yang only huffed in response, startling slightly as she was pulled from her thoughts and turned to see Blake watching her, clutching a small cup of tea.

“You couldn’t sleep either then I take it?” Yang asked, turning her attention back to the fading stars.

“Oh please, I don’t think anyone in that room is actually asleep. Except for maybe Nora, that girl could sleep through anything and gods know she has earned at least one full night of rest.”

“I think we have all more than earned one night.”

Blake hummed in agreement.

“Did you sleep at all?” Blake asked, pushing a little closer to Yang as she sipped her tea and turned her gaze to the sky too.

“A little. I just…couldn’t stop thinking about it all. You know I started all of this looking for an adventure. Now, I think I’d give anything for one more quiet day on Patch.”

“And how many days do you think you’d last in this quiet life, before you were itching for another adventure? Two days?”

Yang smiled and let out a small laugh.

“After all this? I think I could manage it for a while…so _at least_ a week.”

Blake smiled and nudged her with her elbow. “I think I’d pay to see that.”

_If I had it my way, you’d be right there with me._

Yang thought it, but never said it. She never let herself say it, not yet. She told herself that she was waiting for the right moment, refusing to believe that their time could be limited. It wasn’t allowed to end like that, not after everything they had done to get here. Everything they’d already lost.

Blake nudged her again. “Where do you keep going?”

“I…it’s just…the future. I can’t stop thinking about what comes after all of this, I guess it’s slightly easier than thinking about what is going to happen in the next few hours.”

“There will still be a lot of work to do. I’d like to think that the world gets to stay saved for a while at least.”

Yang nodded in agreement, moving her hand to cover the one Blake had moved to the railing. She kept her eyes on the stars. In the last few months, it had become increasingly clear that she didn’t _need_ to say anything. They were both at least pretty sure about how the other felt. They were also both painfully aware of how little time they got alone and how much there was still left to do.

Yang tightened her grip on Blake’s hand and felt her squeeze back, she promised herself that this would be their last almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for making it this far!  
> Sorry it's been a minute  
> Comments welcome as always!  
> Hope everyone is keeping well


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